Tuesday, August 21, 2007

...yearning for a hold opportunity, that is. What once was so plentiful during the Dodgers' glory days of yester-month has suddenly become rarer than Dracula's
steak - and Broxton's chances of breaking Tom Gordon's fabled single-season record of 36 holds are fading fast. Consider: last month Broxton had a binge of 4 holds over 6 days. As of today, he's seen one hold situation in the past 24 days. Since our original Holds of Glory post, Broxton has been passed by Derrick Turnbow and Scot Shields, and caught by Heath Bell - dropping him from 1st to a tie for 3rd faster than anyone since, well, the Dodgers.

Why? Of course losing 15 out of 19 hurts. But even during the Dodgers' recent upswing, Broxton can't catch a break. Just take a look at last weekend's games:

Friday - Dodgers up 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh. Two outs, nobody on, Juan Pierre up. Excactly the guy you can count on to get a quick out and preserve the 3-runs-or-fewer lead required for a hold situation. But Pierre triples and later scores. 6-2, 4-run lead, no hold opportunity. C'mon Juan, I mean trying to win the game is nice, but have a little perspective. This is history you're messing with.

Sunday - Dodgers up 2-1 going into the eighth. Shakespeare couldn't have written a better scenario for a Broxton hold. But because of Saturday's game, Grady has to put Proctor in, who promptly gives up a 2-run HR.

For those who love math and graphs as much as we do, here's a visual of Broxton's hold flatlining:

(click graph to enlarge)

So it looks like Broxton won't be re-writing any history books this season. Anyone know the record for team LOB?